County Institutes Moratorium On Solar Farms

By Gordon HopkinsJefferson County Commissioners voted unanimously for a six-month moratorium on new Commercial Solar Energy Conversion Systems applications at a meeting on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.Commission Chair Mark Schoenrock explained the reason for the moratorium, “After the process that our fellow commissioners went through up in Lancaster County, I had some constituents contact me, questioning the Jefferson County commercial regulations, zoning regulations, regarding solar and there were probably some things that we need to address in our solar zoning regulation that we currently don’t address.” However, Schoenrock wasn’t anticipating extensive changes, “What we have is probably pretty good.”In January of this year, Lancaster County Commissioners unanimously approved the special use permits for a proposed 2,400 acre solar farm, the Panama Energy Center, just east of Hallam. Debate leading up to approval was extremely contentious.The Panama Energy Center is being built by NextEra Energy Resources, the same company that owns and operates the Steele Flats Wind Farm in Jefferson County.Commissioner Michael Dux asked, “I thought we reviewed that about a year-and-a-half ago or so when we did the wind part, and I thought the members were well satisfied, Planning and Zoning members, with where our regs were. So, specifically, where do you think we are lax?”Schoenrock cited three main areas of concern not addressed by current zoning regulations, “We don’t really address setbacks from non participating residences, we don’t have a lot in there about decommissioning plan and we don’t address a road use plan.” On January 3 of this year, Commissioner Danielle Schwab asked for input from the public on social media about solar farms. When FJN asked what the results were, she responded, “The community input on solar projects wasn’t a formal survey, so there aren’t any ‘results’ to share. It was more about gathering general thoughts and perspectives rather than data.”In 2021, Jefferson County issued a moratorium on wind energy construction. Originally intended to last six months, the moratorium was extended to more than a year. The entire process became very controversial. Multiple public hearings were held, with emotions usually running very high among attendees.To avoid a repeat, commissioners have decided to hired a third party company to review the zoning regulations and recommend changes. John McKee, Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Administrator, said he would contact Marvin Planning Consultants, Inc., about review the regulations. Currently, Marvin Planning is reviewing the county’s overall planning and zoning regulations.McKee said that, currently, there are no pending applications for solar energy construction.

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